METHOD FOR PRODUCING A SEMI-MOIST ANIMAL FEED PRODUCT AND SEMI-MOIST ANIMAL FEED PRODUCT FOR CARNIVOROUS ANIMALS

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for producing a semi-moist animal feed product. The invention also relates to a semi-moist animal feed product obtained by means of the claimed method, to the use of the claimed semi-moist animal feed product as feed for carnivorous animals.

Claims

1. A method for producing a semi-moist animal feed product, comprising the steps of: a) charging a cutter for producing an animal feed precursor with ingredients comprising at least one meat having a temperature equal to or lower than +25 C., b) mincing the ingredients to form an animal feed precursor with a moisture content of 30 wt % to 60 wt %, c) shaping the minced feed precursor, without using heat, into a semi-moist animal feed product, and d) optionally, drying the shaped animal feed product until a moisture content between 15 wt % and 50 wt % is reached.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the ingredients for producing the feed precursor are in a completely or partially frozen form.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein one or a plurality of components selected from the group consisting of vegetables, cereal, potatoes, glycerol, salmon powder, cheese powder, rumen powder, and liver sausage are added to the ingredients for producing the feed precursor before mincing.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one additive selected from the group consisting of flavoring agents, natural or synthetic dyes, inactivated yeast or yeast extracts, plant extracts and/or concentrates, preservatives, sugars, and functional ingredients.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein one, or simultaneously, a plurality of animal feed precursor(s) of different compositions are produced that are shaped into one or a plurality of strands.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein, the plurality of strands are interwoven.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the semi-moist animal feed product is cooled to a temperature of between 10 C. and 40 C.

8. A semi-moist animal feed product, obtainable by a method according to claim 1.

9. The semi-moist animal feed product according to claim 8, wherein the animal feed product has a breaking strength between 28 kPa and 72 kPa and/or a compressive strength of between 112 and 129 kPa.

10. The semi-moist animal feed product according to claim 8, wherein said product has a fat content between 8 wt % and 30 wt %, a protein content between 10 wt % and 40 wt %, an ash content between 2 and 10 wt %, and a pH between 5 and 6.5.

11. The semi-moist animal feed product according to claim 8, wherein a plurality of animal feed precursors are produced that are shaped into one or a plurality of interwoven strands and at least a part of at least one inner strand is visible on the longitudinal side of the semi-moist animal feed product.

12. The semi-moist animal feed product according to claim 11, wherein the strands contain animal feed precursors of different compositions.

13. The semi-moist animal feed product according to claim 11, wherein the shaping is concentric shaping.

14. The semi-moist animal feed product according to claim 8, wherein said product is sealed in a foil package.

15. The semi-moist animal feed product according to claim 14, wherein said product is packaged in a gas-tight manner.

16. The method according to claim 1, wherein in step d) the shaped animal feed product is dried until a moisture content between 20 wt % and 40 wt % is reached.

17. The semi-moist animal feed product according to claim 14, wherein said product is sealed in a tubular bag package or a hollow shell package.

Description

[0054] In the following, the invention is described in further detail with respect to an illustrative embodiment that serves only to explain a possible embodiment and by no means limits the scope of the invention.

[0055] FIG. 1, which is the only FIGURE, shows a schematic diagram for producing a semi-moist animal feed product according to the invention. First, the ingredients of the group meat are placed in the cutter 5. These ingredients are located in containers 2 and optionally (if separate containers, e.g. for meat of different animal species, are provided) and are conveyed from there to the cutter 5. There are also further containers for vegetables 6 or cereal 7 or potatoes 8 or glycerol 9, which can be added to the meat-based ingredients. Further containers, e.g. for salmon powder, cheese powder, rumen powder, and liver sausage can be provided, the contents of which can be supplied to the cutter 5 via feed lines (the further containers and their feed lines are not shown in FIG. 1). 4 denotes perforated disks that are upstream from the cutter 5 and are used to crush at least the flesh-based products for producing the feed precursor.

[0056] If multiple animal feed precursors of different compositions are produced simultaneously, it is possible to shape multi-strand semi-moist animal feed products 1 having strands of animal feed precursors of different compositions. During shaping, for example by means of a former 10, particularly a screw extruder, the strands can be interwoven. This makes it possible to obtain a variety of semi-moist animal feed products 1 differing completely in appearance and haptics, for example products in which a part of at least one inner strand is visible on the longitudinal side of the semi-moist animal feed product 1. From the former 10, the shaped feed precursor is fed into a dryer denoted by 11. The size of the semi-moist animal feed products 1 obtained after drying is selected so that it can be optimally consumed by the respective carnivorous animal species; for example, the diameter for semi-moist animal feed products such as cat nibbles is approximately 1 cm, while the diameter for dogs can be approximately 2 to 4 cm. After leaving the dryer 11, the final product, i.e. the semi-moist animal feed product 1, is sent on to processing and/or packaging units, denoted here collectively by 12.